Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump’s never-ending war of words has now turned into a cognitive test face-off. It all started with Trump’s big claims of his peak-perfection health. He went on to challenge Gavin Newsom, Tim Walz, and Kamala Harris to see if they could ace the cognitive tests that the President claims to champion with soaring scores.
Gavin Newsom shared a clip of Trump challenging Newsom and others for a cognitive test, and he wrote on X, “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.” The California Governor accepted Trump’s challenge on national TV right away and added, “Donald Trump, if you’re so confident, let’s do it. Name your time and place.”
Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.@realDonaldTrump, if you’re so confident, let’s do it. Name your time and place. https://t.co/SNHHzKdwiu
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 6, 2026
Trump, who has, time and again, boasted about his perfect health, said that he is the only President to have undergone these tests. He said during a speech, “We should give everybody these competency tests …I think every president and vice president should be forced to take cognitive exams.”
He added during his speech, “Do you think Walz could pass a cognitive test as an example? “Do you think Kamala could? I don’t think Gavin could. He’s got a good line of c–p, but other than that, he couldn’t pass.”
Trump:
We should give everybody cognitive tests.
I am the only President that went for cognitives. Every President and Vice President should be forced to take exams.
Mental tests, like are they intelligent? pic.twitter.com/S9Gb91kQKe
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 6, 2026
So, it wasn’t just Gavin Newsom who decided to accept Donald Trump’s challenge. Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel also took the same cognitive test as Trump at Walter Reed Medical Center. “In the interest of fairness, and also to get a sense of what he keeps babbling about, we got in touch with a doctor who gives this test regularly, these cognitive exams. And I asked her to administer one to me,” Jimmy Kimmel said post taking the test.
He added, “This is the official exam administered by a medical professional. I did not see the questions ahead of time. And I’m willing to release the full unedited version if necessary. With that said, let’s find out just how difficult this big, beautiful test is. And how my brain stacks up against our stable genius President’s.”
Turns out, Jimmy Kimmel also received a perfect score. Jimmy Kimmel also dedicated his Best Host win at the Critics Choice Awards to Trump with a dash of sarcasm, of course.
Trump, keeping up with his series of many posts, bragging about his perfect health, both cognitive and physical, on January 2 this year, shared a Truth Social post, in which he wrote, “The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in “PERFECT HEALTH,” and that I “ACED” for the third straight time, my cognitive examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take.”
A mention of Donald Trump’s health would be incomplete without the many swipes Gavin Newsom has taken on the same of late. He once said that Trump needs to be “stabilized.” In a rather strongly worded X post, Gavin Newsom said this about Trump’s health: “He seems, dare I say, in decline cognitively. And dare I say, forgive me, perhaps unfair, physically, and these are just rantings of someone that needs an intervention, needs some help, needs to be stabilized, dare I say.”
